Monday, May 27, 2013

No matter your preference, here is a summer reading list to whet every bookish apetite:

The House of Impossible Loves By Cristina Lopez Barrio
An “exuberant” debut novel of a family bound by searing passions, an earthy magic, and a very unusual curse

Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail by Rubén Martínez
Hailed as "valuable," "passionate," and "terrific," Crossing Over puts a human face on the phenomenon of Mexican immigration and the vibrant Latino culture it introduces to the U.S., and remains a beautifully written classic of our time.

The Honest Life: Living Naturally and True to You by Jessica Alba
The Honest Life recounts Alba’s personal journey of discovery and reveals her tips for making healthy living fun, real, and stylish, while offering a candid look inside her home and daily life.

King of Cuba: A Novel by Cristina Garcia
Vivid and alive, Cristina García’s new novel transports readers to Cuba, to Miami, and into the heads of two larger-than-life men—a fictionalized Fidel Castro and an octogenarian Cuban exile obsessed with seeking revenge against the dictator.

A Crack in the Wall By Claudia Pineiro
Claudia Piñeiro once again demonstrates her capacity to reveal the things hidden behind the facades of our existence; human relationships based on habit and cowardice, rather than love; on excessive ambition and personal gain, rather than morality.

Soccer in Sun and Shadow By Eduardo Galeano
Soccer is a game that bureaucrats try to dull and the powerful try to manipulate, but it retains its magic because it remains a bewitching game—“a feast for the eyes ... and a joy for the body that plays it”—exquisitely rendered in the magical stories of Soccer in Sun and Shadow.

Barbecued Husbands: And Other Stories From The Amazon By Betty Mindlin
Reading like a novel, this is an oral history suffused with magic realism.The stories recounted in Barbecued Husbands are as old as humanity: love and hate, jealousy and revenge, life after death, totems and taboos, erotic solitude, romantic love, mothers and daughters, masculinity.

Tattoo By Manuel Vazquez Montalban
In a Spain still stifled under the rule of Franco, former CIA operative--and former Commnist--Pepe Carvalho has become so cynical he seems to care about nothing except food and sex. He's even taken to burning the occasional book in his Barcelona apartment, just so he can have a fire going in the fireplace when he eats some bacalhao. But when he sees the cops bungling a case he's hired to investigate--that of a body pulled out of the sea--he's roused by a sense of injustice.

The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese By Michael Paterniti
A moving exploration of happiness, friendship, and betrayal, The Telling Room introduces us to Ambrosio Molinos de las Heras, an unforgettable real-life literary hero, while also holding a mirror up to the world, fully alive to the power of stories that define and sustain us.

Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature By Agustín Fuentes
Presenting scientific evidence from diverse fields, including anthropology, biology, and psychology, Fuentes devises a myth-busting toolkit to dismantle persistent fallacies about the validity of biological races, the innateness of aggression and violence, and the nature of monogamy and differences between the sexes.

Shut Up, You're Welcome: Thoughts on Life, Death, and Other Inconveniences By Annie Choi
Each of Choi’s personal essays begins with an open letter to someone (babies) or something (the San Fernando Valley) she has a beef with.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

“Mi Querido Barrio” is an exhibition with both physical and virtual components, mapping an historic and cultural tour of El Barrio to foster greater awareness of the cultural history of the area’s long-standing residents. The works of intergenerational artists in both traditional media and augmented reality will explore the concept of home/community in a global reality.The physical exhibition will document the lives of 5 families with a generational history of living in El Barrio. The virtual exhibition will place virtual computer graphic artworks and environments throughout my neighborhood to reflect on El Barrio’s past, present and future in cultural memory, history, fantasy, and reality.

Triggers at on-site posters throughout East Harlem (La Marqueta, Tito Puente’s birth location, the Young Lord’s garbage offense, or Willie Mays stickball locations, to name a few) call forth on your phone the digital artwork. Sound, graphics, and video are also part of the digital-transformed creation.If this all seems very conceptual, a demonstration using a smart phone makes it straightforward.Nine artists from diverse artistic backgrounds have been brought together to produce an exhibition using this latest technology paying homage to the vast contributions of East Harlem’s community.The newly launched art project will map historic and cultural areas of New York’s El Barrio neighborhood. Each artist will create a site-specific virtual artwork. At the end of the training period for artists, there will be a limited public exhibition as an example of what the final project will be.The artists have been trained by Tamiko Thiel, a German-based visual artist, who has developed artistic capabilities of various forms of this technology for exploring social and cultural issues. Bruce Lincoln is directing the project along with a technology advisor, historian, and workshop coordinator.This is a homecoming for cultural activist Dr. Moreno-Vega, who was born and grew up in El Barrio.Having devoted her life to preserving, nurturing and showcasing Hispanic arts, she is clearly on the wave of a “now” art form, situating CCCADI stanchly into the 21st century. With this recognition, Dr. Moreno-Vega says, “It is an exciting time for us here at the Center as we have the opportunity to train and open a new field to a diverse group of artists.”
Via Caribbeanlifenews

Monday, May 06, 2013

Jenni Rivera was the top-selling artist within the Regional Mexican music genre. With a weekly radio show, her own reality show, a makeup and clothing line, and her own foundation, she was at the height of her career and life. Everything she had conquered, with blood, sweat, tears, and smiles, hap¬pened, as she said, with God leading her by the hand. However her life, her dreams, and the joy she shared with so many came to a tragic end just before dawn on December 9, 2012.

In Jenni Rivera: The Incredible Story of a Warrior Butterfly, Leila Cobo—pianist, TV host, and Executive Director for Latino content and programming at Billboard—brings us Jenni Rivera’s intimate and moving biography, reflecting on the party girl, the elegant woman, the great diva, the friend, the mother, and the grandmother. A Fulbright scholar from Cali, Colombia, Leila Cobo is a novelist, pianist, TV host and executive Editor for Latin Content and Programming for Billboard. Under her tenure, Billboard has expanded its coverage of Latin Music and for the first time in its more than 100-year history, the magazine has a complete weekly section dedicated solely to Latin music. As an author Ms. Cobo’s first novel, Tell Me Something True, was published Oct. 1 to critical acclaim by Grand Central Publishing/Hatchette and is now in its third printing. Her second novel, The Second Time We Met, was published in 2012.Prior to Billboard, Leila wrote for the Los Angeles Times and was later the pop music critic at the Miami Herald. She’s written liner notes for Ricky Martin, Shakira, Julio Iglesias and Selena among others, and collaborates closely with Grammy in the Schools and Teach for America, among other projects.Ms. Cobo is also one of the authors of the Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music and a guest writer on the anthology Quinceañera.

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

The other day while browsing the meat aisle of my local A&P Supermarket, after stocking up on healthy snacks at Trader's Joes, I spotted a package of taco seasoning labeled "Nueva Cocina® Latin" that claimed to be MSG- free, gluten free, and all-natural; all products contain no artificial ingredients or preservatives.

I am not sure if you've spotted this brand before, I certainly hadn't but I was really pleased to discover it. Keep an eye for their rice, seasonings and soup products. I hope they extend their line too and make some low sodium versions soon.

Who is Literanista?

Valerie M. Russo Evans

New York, NY, United States

A native New Yorker born to Puerto Rican & Sicilian parents in Spanish Harlem's El Barrio, Literanista is a Social Media Strategist, a published poet/writer, has worked at Hachette Book Group, Aol, Thomson Reuters and scouts the web for multicultural literary news, tech trends, innovation, working on her debut novel & about a million other things.

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* All content on Literanista is strictly based on my sole personal opinion & beliefs & not those of my employer. I sometimes receive advance release copies of books, media, and products for promotion purposes.